1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical fiber adapter, and more particularly, to a one-piece optical fiber adapter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fiber optics has revolutionized communication through out the world. With the increased used of fiber optics it has become increasingly important to be able to connect and disconnect fiber optic cables from various sources. Two fiber optic cables can be optically coupled so that they are in communication with each other by using connectors and an adapter, thereby putting each fiber optic cable in communication with the other. The connectors are placed on the end of each cable and then plugged into the adapter. The adapter has two openings each one designed to receive a connector.
The conventional optical fiber adapters consist of two halves, each halve being identical. Each half consists generally of a rectangular cylinder having a flange at one end. Inside each half would be placed half of an inner housing. The inner housing is generally a round cylinder with a flange at one end. Each adapter half has a ridge located just inside from its flange so that the inner housing could be placed in the adapter through the opening proximate to the flange on the adapter half. Once the inner housing is inserted into each adapter half, the two halves are connected by ultrasonically welding the two flanges of the adapter halves together.
However, the above design presents serious problems. The cables are naturally flexed in use when the adapter remains fixed. The related stress of this situation can cause the two halves of the adapter to separate from each other after time. In the prior art, this problem can be solved by constructing the adapter halves from metal which gives the adapter enough strength to withstand these stresses. However, this too presented a problem as metal is much more expensive to purchase and mold than the plastic one.
In order to solve the above problem, some manufactures provide so-called one-piece optical fiber adapter. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional one-piece optical fiber adapter 100 includes a unitary molded plastic main body 110 and a plastic cover plate 190. The main body 110 has an axial cavity 120 defined by top wall 111, bottom wall 112, right wall 113 and left wall 114. The axial cavity 120 of the main body 110 has opposing first opening 122 and second opening 124 in the axial direction.
Located on the exterior of the main body 110 is a pair of tabs 132 and 134. One tab 132 is located on the right wall 113 and the other tab 134 is located on the left wall 114. The tabs 132 and 134 are operative in supporting the adapter 100 on a surface. Ac access opening 150 is located on the top wall 150. The access opening 150 allows the inner housing 160 to be inserted into the axial cavity 120 of the main body 110 and also allows the main body 110 to be constructed by injection molding. After the inner housing 160 is inserted into the axial cavity 120, the cover plate 190 is used to cover the access opening 150 and can be ultrasonically weld to the main body 110. The assembly of the optical fiber adapter is illustrated in FIG. 2.
In order to facilitate the cover plate 190 to be attached to the main body 110, a plurality of bar protruding portions 170 is located near the access opening 150 on the inner surfaces of the left and right walls 114, 113. In addition, referring to FIG. 3, a plurality of bar protrusions 192 is positioned on the cover plate 190 and corresponding to the bar protruding portions 170.
When desiring to attach the cover plate 190 to the main body 110, the bar protrusions 192 on the cover plate 190 are ultrasonically melted and bonded with the bar protruding portions 170 on the left and right walls 114, 113.
However, if the ultrasonic welding is not well controlled, the molten protrusions 192 will be likely to overflow to the interior space of the cavity 120. This will hinder optical fiber connectors from insertion into the adapter 100.
Accordingly, there exists a need to provide a one-piece optical fiber adapter to solve the aforesaid problems.